Sallie McLaurin (Oklahoma) becomes the first volleyball student-athlete to win Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors in three consecutive weeks as the senior earned the award for matches played Sept. 9-15. Brianne Riley (Kansas) and Katie Brand (Kansas State) were also honored as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively.

McLaurin becomes the sixth student-athlete to tally three or more Offensive Player of the Week honors in the same season and the only Oklahoma player to achieve the feat. She has totaled nine career Big 12 weekly awards, which is tied for fifth-most in league history.

This marks the third career weekly award for Riley, while Brand picks up the first of her career.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEKSallie McLaurin, Oklahoma, Sr., MB, Midwest City, Okla./Carl AlbertMcLaurin powered the Sooners to a 3-0 week, dominating on both offense and defense as OU did not give up a single set at the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational. She hit .630 and totaled 38 kills, averaging 4.22 kills per set. On defense, McLaurin tallied 19 total blocks and five digs. She reached double figures in all three matches, including a weekend-high 15 against Missouri State on Saturday. McLaurin set a season-high in hitting percentage at .722 in the weekend opener against Alabama A&M. She registered at least six blocks in all three matches, including seven against Middle Tennessee State. Not only did she lead the league last week in hitting, the senior sits atop the conference leaderboard with a mark of .490 for the season.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEKBrianne Riley, Kansas, Sr., L, Naperville, Ill./Benet AcademyLast weekend, Riley was a primary reason behind the Jayhawks’ undefeated run through the InnTowner Invitational and was awarded All-Tournament honors for her performance. Riley led the Jayhawks in the digs column in all three matches, but went above and beyond at the 22nd annual Wisconsin tournament. She racked up 12 digs and a pair of assists in KU’s opening sweep against Milwaukee. In their next match, facing an undefeated, top-25 Wisconsin team in the Badgers’ home opener, Riley and the Jayhawks found themselves down two sets to none. The senior libero led KU from the back row, hustling for a then-season high 28 digs while tying her career-high six assists. In the weekend finale, she led KU to a five-set victory over Bowling Green with 31 digs – her first 30-plus dig effort of the season. With 71 digs over the weekend, Riley moved within one dig of becoming eighth all-time on the Big 12 Conference’s career digs list (1,705).

ROOKIE OF THE WEEKKatie Brand, Kansas State, Fr., S, Grand Island, Neb./Central CatholicBrand, the Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year, averaged 9.88 assists last week, which was fourth in the league and highest among all freshman. She helped lead the Wildcats to a 3-1 week, including a win over No. 23 Cal on the road in which she totaled a season-high 50 assists. She totaled three double-doubles on the week and has a team-high seven double-doubles through three weeks of competition. For the week, Brand recorded 12 kills (0.75 kps), 158 assists (9.88 aps), 47 digs (2.94 dps), 10 blocks (0.63 bps), four aces (0.25 aces per set), and 22.5 points (1.41 points per set).